How to enter bills in QuickBooks

First check that a bill is the right form. Intuit describes bills as the record of what you owe: services or items you've received but haven't paid for. Entering them is how QuickBooks tracks each supplier's balance and your Accounts Payable (A/P), which Intuit says matters especially if your reports run on an accrual basis. You don't need to wait for paperwork. An electricity bill that arrives but isn't due until the end of the month can go in as a bill straight away.

If the money has already left your account, skip the bill. Intuit's example is supplies bought at a store and paid for at the counter: there's nothing owed, so the purchase belongs on the Expense or Cheque form.

Have the supplier's document in front of you, with its bill date, due date, bill number, terms and the amount of each line. A digital copy can be uploaded rather than typed. QuickBooks takes PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF and PNG files and pulls the key details out of them.

Two optional parts of the form depend on settings. The Item details section, for listing products and services, appears only when Show Items table on expense and purchase forms is on. The Billable box, for passing a cost on to a customer, needs Show service field and Allow time to be billable turned on in the Time settings.

1. Select + New or + Create, then select Bill.
2. Use the Supplier dropdown to choose who sent the bill.
3. Use the Terms dropdown to choose the payment terms. They tell QuickBooks when the supplier expects to be paid.
4. Type the Bill date, Due date and Bill no. so they match the supplier's document.
5. In the Category details section, add a line for each part of the bill and enter its Amount.
6. To itemise products and services, fill in the Item details section. If it isn't showing, go to Settings ⚙, select Account and settings, then Expenses, then Edit. Select the edit icon in the Bills and expenses section, turn on Show Items table on expense and purchase forms, and select Save, then Done.
7. To charge a cost on to a customer, tick Billable and enter the customer in the Customer/Project field. If the box is missing, go to Settings ⚙, select Account and settings, then Time, select the edit icon in the Timesheet section, turn on Show service field and Allow time to be billable, and select Save, then Done.
8. Select Save and close.

The bill is recorded as an amount owed to the supplier, so their balance goes up by its total. It sits on the Unpaid tab of the Bills page, which Intuit suggests checking to see what's due to go out this month. The Profit and Loss report picks up the cost as well, so you can see how it affects your margins.

Nothing has been paid yet. When you're ready to settle it, record the payment through Pay bills. That closes the bill and brings the supplier's balance back down by the amount paid. If you pay it electronically, Intuit says to type EFT in the payment's Reference number field.

Bill still showing as unpaid after you paid the supplier? Check how the payment went in. Intuit warns that paying an entered bill with the Cheque or Expense form, rather than Pay bills, can leave the bill open on your reports.

If the Item details section or the Billable box doesn't appear on the bill, the setting behind it is still off. Turn it on as described in the steps, then reopen the bill.